Smart meter data trial from 8 August 2022 to 7 August 2023

We are running a trial which involves using data from your electricity smart meter, along with 170,000 other smart meters to improve our systems and electricity network. We need to make sure our electricity network will be ready to cope with the increased demands of homes and businesses in the future. This includes supporting environmentally friendly and low carbon technology installations such as Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers, heat pumps and solar panels. 

Our aim is to understand how much power is being used through our electricity cables and equipment. We’ll use electricity usage data from individual smart meters combined with other households to help us. This will identify areas of our network which already have capacity to cope with demand, and areas which need our investment and upgrading. We can then plan and prioritise improvements to our electricity network to make sure it’s reliable and ready to keep the power flowing for future needs. 

Being part of our trial will help us to: 

• Reduce costs and improve the quality of services for our customers by allowing us to accurately identify areas of our electricity network where we need to invest.

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet our target of achieving Net Zero by 2050. Find out more about our targets for Net Zero. It will also allow local authorities to develop detailed climate plans.

• Identify new opportunities for individual customers, businesses, and communities who want to install or connect new low carbon technology equipment to our electricity network.

• Support businesses and local authorities plan for future investments by using our Open Data Portal which provides data on the capacity of our electricity network.

The trial has been approved by the by the Government in line with our obligations on data and privacy. It allows us to access smart meter consumption data, with the exception of any customers who opt out of the trial. We will not be monitoring your usage on an individual basis. 

Data collected will be combined with other households for the purpose of this trial. We intend to run the trial for the course of 12 months, after which we will permanently and securely delete all data that we hold.

The trial will not:

• Use data from your smart meters for marketing purposes or to contact you with adverts.
• Sell or provide data from your smart meters to third parties for use for any other use.

You can opt out at any time before the trial starts or during it. If you opt out once the trial begins on 8 August 2022, it will take us seven working days to remove your data. You can opt out by completing a short form at the end of this page. 

Great! You don’t need to do anything. We can gather data from your electricity smart meter without the need for any further contact from you.